Five medical gadget innovations that also save money
posted on July 14, 2010
1. Medical centrifuges are used to spin blood to separate the red blood cells from the lighter plasma for tests or transfusion. The cost for an electric driven centrifuge starts at $2,000.
Rice University students developed the “Salad Spinner blood centrifuge” that can spin 30 capillary tubes worth of blood in 20 minutes, by hand, needing no electricity. The cost for the “Salad Spinner blood centrifuge” is less than $30. It is light weight, portable and can travel to the most rugged locations.
2. Each year in under developed countries millions of babies are born under weight and premature. Incubators are needed to help these babies regulate body heat. The average cost of an electrical powered incubator is $20,000.
A group of Stanford graduate students invented “Embrace” an incubator that runs on hot water, without electricity, for only $25. It looks like a sleeping bag that one fills with hot water. It can be ready to use in 10 minutes and reused a hundred times.
3. Wounds heal quicker when negative pressure (suction) is applied to the wound. It also cuts down the amount of times one needs to dress the wound. Negative pressure pumps cost $100 a day to rent.
Danielle Zurovcik, a doctoral student at MIT’s Mechanical Engineering school, invented a $3 negative pressure pump out of plastic tubing, air tight bandage, and a hand powered bellows pump.
4. 2.6 billion people, or 40% of the world, have no access to basic sanitation. Open pit latrines often contaminate the ground water spreading disease. Anders Wilhelmson noticed that in some areas without toilets people were using plastic bags and tossing them in the local garbage heap.
That is what inspired him to come up with the “PeePoo” biodegradable bag that only cost pennies. How it works is the PeePoo bags are lined with urea, the most common, non-hazardous fertilizer in the world. When urea comes in contact with human waste, it kicks off a chemical reaction that breaks down the waste, kills the bacteria, and fertilizes the immediate area the bag was buried.
5. Doctors need microscopes to scan biological samples. Then they need to send the scans to hospitals, clinics, and labs where the images can be diagnosed. The equipment that is usually used in developed countries would be expensive, dependent on electricity, and too bulky to take into remote areas.
UCLA’s Aydogan Ozcan came up with a way to use $10 in spare parts, mounted to a cell phone, that will turn the cell phone into a microscope that can scan biological samples and then send the scans on to be diagnosed elsewhere.
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/07/07/medical-gadgets-that-save-money-and-lives
Please read the uplifting and often amusing article at the TakePart website. There are links on that page that will lead you to more information on each individual or group that developed these innovations.
Two big problems that health professionals face when working in the poorest communities of the world are the limits on their funds and reliable access to electricity. This posed a challenge to some of the brightest people to invent medical equipment that was both low cost and did not rely on electricity. As featured in a TakePart article, here are 5 medical equipment innovations that save money while saving lives.
1. Medical centrifuges are used to spin blood to separate the red blood cells from the lighter plasma for tests or transfusion. The cost for an electric driven centrifuge starts at $2,000.
Rice University students developed the “Salad Spinner blood centrifuge” that can spin 30 capillary tubes worth of blood in 20 minutes, by hand, needing no electricity. The cost for the “Salad Spinner blood centrifuge” is less than $30. It is light weight, portable and can travel to the most rugged locations.
2. Each year in under developed countries millions of babies are born under weight and premature. Incubators are needed to help these babies regulate body heat. The average cost of an electrical powered incubator is $20,000.
A group of Stanford graduate students invented “Embrace” an incubator that runs on hot water, without electricity, for only $25. It looks like a sleeping bag that one fills with hot water. It can be ready to use in 10 minutes and reused a hundred times.
3. Wounds heal quicker when negative pressure (suction) is applied to the wound. It also cuts down the amount of times one needs to dress the wound. Negative pressure pumps cost $100 a day to rent.
Danielle Zurovcik, a doctoral student at MIT’s Mechanical Engineering school, invented a $3 negative pressure pump out of plastic tubing, air tight bandage, and a hand powered bellows pump.
4. 2.6 billion people, or 40% of the world, have no access to basic sanitation. Open pit latrines often contaminate the ground water spreading disease. Anders Wilhelmson noticed that in some areas without toilets people were using plastic bags and tossing them in the local garbage heap.
That is what inspired him to come up with the “PeePoo” biodegradable bag that only cost pennies. How it works is the PeePoo bags are lined with urea, the most common, non-hazardous fertilizer in the world. When urea comes in contact with human waste, it kicks off a chemical reaction that breaks down the waste, kills the bacteria, and fertilizes the immediate area the bag was buried.
5. Doctors need microscopes to scan biological samples. Then they need to send the scans to hospitals, clinics, and labs where the images can be diagnosed. The equipment that is usually used in developed countries would be expensive, dependent on electricity, and too bulky to take into remote areas.
UCLA’s Aydogan Ozcan came up with a way to use $10 in spare parts, mounted to a cell phone, that will turn the cell phone into a microscope that can scan biological samples and then send the scans on to be diagnosed elsewhere.
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/07/07/medical-gadgets-that-save-money-and-lives
Please read the uplifting and often amusing article at the TakePart website. There are links on that page that will lead you to more information on each individual or group that developed these innovations.
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my name is joe gonzalez,, an medical device inventor.
iv'e come up with a device to treat autism and trauma.
one treatment snaps autism and trauma victims right out...hard to believe? yes..but true..looking for a partner..if interested..email me..joe
fyerx@yahoo.com